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Top 10 Brasileirão Teams to Watch in 2023

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There are only a handful of national leagues that every soccer fan needs to follow and Brasileirão Série A is one of those. Let’s look at the top teams of the league and how to watch them this season.

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Channels for Brasileirão Série A

In the US, CBS owns the English-language rights to Brasileirão Série A. But if you want access to the league as well as Brasileirão Série B and other Brazil- and South Amerca-based soccer, you need to get access to Premiere TV.

Although Fubo used to offer Premiere TV, it has since dropped it. Sling TV is the only way to get Premiere TV in the US. Luckily, it isn’t expensive.

The Brasil Máximo + Globoplay costs only $30/mo. In addition to the 8 Premiere TV channels, you get BabyTV, Globo, Record TV, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (SBT), and the exceptional on-demand service Globoplay.

Sling TV allows you to stream on up to 3 screens at once. And it has unmatched customization with a half-dozen channel pages and several dozen individual channel options. Sling TV is likely the closest we will ever get to a la carte channel choice.

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Top 10 Brasileirão Série A Teams

As one of the world’s most historic and prestigious domestic league competitions, the Brasileirão is part of an expansive club soccer structure in that country that includes state leagues that precede its nationwide campaigns every year. Brazil’s teams also regularly impress at the Copa Libertadores.

The 2023 Brasileirão campaign, which stretches from April to December, is now underway. Here are some of the top clubs to watch out for this season.

Palmeiras

It is only appropriate to start this list with Palmeiras. This São Paulo-based club not only has the most Brasileirão titles with 11, but it is also the competition’s defending champion, having claimed the 2022 trophy by an eight-point margin. It is also coming off of a trophy lift at the end of its state season, the Campeonato Paulista. However, in 2022, the team was unable to win its third Copa Libertadores in a row, falling in the semifinal stage in that competition, so reclaiming that trophy will also be a focus for this club in 2023.

Rony was Palmeiras’ top goal scorer in 2022, tallying 23 total scores with 12 of those coming in league play. He is back for his fourth season with the side.

Flamengo

However, Flamengo has been viewed by many as the favorite to take home the Série A trophy in 2023. Although this club from Rio de Janeiro only finished fifth in the final league table a year ago, it did respond well to a poor start that season and claimed the Copa Libertadores and played in the Club World Cup. Flamengo is also one of Brazil’s most storied sides, having won the Brasileirão seven times.

The club has a dual-pronged attack as Pedro and Gabriel Barbosa both scored 29 goals a year ago, and both tallied 11 of those in league play.

Fluminense

A team that is prime to take the top spot in the league if Palmeiras and Flamengo both falter is Fluminense. If it does do so, it will mark the club’s fifth league championship and first since 2012. Fluminense, which shares the Maracanã with Flamengo, placed third in the league table a year ago although it did disappoint in the Copa Libertadores, failing to escape its qualifying stages.

Germán Cano will be pivotal to the team’s chances of success in 2023. A year ago, he dominated the league’s goal-scoring chart, putting the ball in the back of the net 26 times in Série A play.

Atlético Mineiro

Atlético Mineiro is another club that is ready to pounce if the front-runners fail to impress in 2023. If things fall its way this season, it will bring the Série A trophy back to Belo Horizonte for just the third time in its history although it does have recent successes as the second of those was claimed just two years ago. However, in 2022, Atlético Mineiro disappointed, finishing seventh. In the Copa Libertadores, the club advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by fellow Brazilian side Palmeiras.

Hulk likely needs to keep scoring goals for this to be a bounce-back season for his side. He has tallied more than 100 for Atlético Mineiro since joining it in 2021. However, he will be helped by Edenílson, who scored 10 times for Internacional last year in his sixth and final season with that side.

Corinthians

Corinthians came in fourth place in the Brasileirão table in 2022 to go with a quarterfinal appearance in the Copa Libertadores. The team, which is based in São Paulo, also exited the 2023 Campeonato Paulista in the quarterfinal round.

This is one of Brazil’s top sides historically, having won the Série A championship on seven occasions. Róger Guedes led the team in goals scored in 2022, hitting the back of the net 15 times with 10 of those coming in league play.

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Athletico Paranaense

Athletico Paranaense will likely be another top-half club in 2023. A season ago, it placed sixth to go with a stunning run to the Copa Libertadores final, defeating Palmeiras in the semis of that competition before falling to Flamengo at the last stage of it. A win there would have resulted in the team’s first Copa Libertadores title while a league championship in 2023 would be its second. It topped Brazil for the first time in 2001.

David Terans led Athletico Paranaense in Série A scoring a year ago, tallying 12 goals that campaign.

Internacional

Although many prognosticators are viewing Internacional’s second-place showing last year as a fluke of sorts, the club is determined to ensure that that is not the case. If the team takes it even a step further and wins the Série A title in 2023, it would be the first for the Porto Alegre-based side since 1979. The club will also return to the Copa Libertadores in 2023 as its mid-table league placement in 2021 only got it to the Copa Sudamericana in 2022; it advanced to the quarterfinals of South America’s second-tier competition.

Internacional’s top goal scorer in league play a year ago was Alexandre Alemão. He had eight.

São Paulo

São Paulo is another team to watch out for in 2023. Although it finished mid-table in 2022, coming in ninth, one point and place shy of a 2023 Copa Libertadores spot, some believe that it will push towards the top of it in 2023. With that said, winning its seventh Brasileirão title might be too much of a stretch. Also note that it entered its Série A campaign on the heels of an exit from the Campeonato Paulista in the quarterfinal round, falling to Água Santa in penalties after those teams drew, 0-0.

Jonathan Calleri and Luciano are back for São Paulo; they scored 27 and 21 goals, respectively, for the side in all competitions in 2022.

Santos

Although Santos has been going though some tough times, this is a team that should never be disregarded, and a return to recent successes could start in 2023. Although this proud club, which is where Pelé played the vast majority of his club soccer, finished mid-table in each of the past three campaigns, it placed in the top three in three of the four campaigns prior to then: 2019 (second), 2017 (third), and 2016 (second). However, Santos does have a Série A title drought, having lifted that trophy for the eighth and most recent time in 2004.

Marcos Leonardo is the team’s leading goal scorer. He had 21 in 2022 with 13 of those coming in league play.

Cruzeiro

Will someone come up from Série B and make an immediate impact in Brazil’s top tier in 2023? One of the more likely ones to do so is Cruzeiro, which claimed last season’s second tier with ease, winning it by a 13-point margin. The Belo Horizonte-based side has also achieved some Brasileirão success, having won Brazil’s top league on four occasions, most recently in back-to-back campaigns, in 2013 and 2014.

Cruzeiro started its 2023 campaign with a Campeonato Mineiro semifinal appearance, falling to Série A side América Mineiro at that stage.

Wrapping Up

Don’t miss any of these teams’ matches! Premiere TV is the place for Brasileirão soccer and much more — whether you speak Portuguese or not. Try it out with Sling TV today!

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Page Updates

  1. Added table of contents. Added sub-section. Added some more links. Misc content updates.

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